A Tuesday Morning Drive
by Snowlia
Summary: Jonah wasn’t use to feeling this much from his old heart, he was sure it must be turning black, but this little boy, trying to save himself and his horse all the while looking for pity and aid from no one, was bringing a little color back into it.
1. Chapter 1

I love 'The Phantom Stallion' honestly, it's a great series but I am here to hopefully boost up the minority that is "Wild Horse Island' fanfictions. At first I was upset with the series because it had taken over 'The Phantom Stallion' but now I'm on book 6 and have decided that I actually like it better then the original. My favorite character (of either series) is defiantly Cade. And so, here's like the third ever 'Wild Horse Island' fanfiction.

Moku Lio Hihiu sat peacefully that Tuesday morning. Dawn had just broken over the wide leaved trees, bringing with it a slow drizzle that dripped from leaf tip to leaf tip, finally plunging to the earth. Birds chirped to one another and scattered the newly bright sky. On the north side of the island the two volcanoes, the Twin Sisters, stood side by side calmly, the western sister giving off a bit of mist, warning all the inhabitants of Wild Horse Island to be warned of her power. Bands of wild horses moved rhythmically through the forest, prancing in the feel of the moisture on their gleaming coats. Somewhere far off a few cows called morning greetings to one another. All was normal on Wild Horse Island and all was peaceful.

Jonah Kealoha would however never be able to forget that morning for as long as he lived. He had been driving out to Sugar Sands Cove Resort to pick something up from his sister. He had delayed his trip a bit, seeing Babe was not exactly a pleasant experience for him, and in that strange way that small decisions have the greatest impacts, those few minutes made all the difference in the world.

The old paniolo sighed as he stared down the rain, it wasn't enough to make him turn on the windshield wipers but it was enough to annoy his all ready agitated mood.

"Dang island weather…" he grumbled. It was then he saw the horse. Wild horses weren't uncommon on the island but it was still strange to see one so close to the road. It didn't look like any wild horse he had seen either, surely he would have recognized such a stand-out coat, grey with black markings and mane and tail. It looked a bit too well fed and perfectly brushed to be a wild horse though. He had just passed the Taro Fields and Manny's place, maybe it was one of his horses that had gotten out. He slowed as he approached the horse, not wanting to spook it out in front of vehicle. The horse was probably better off wild then in Manny's care though; Jonah had never liked that man.

As he approached the appaloosa turned its head with pricked ears and flared nostrils, watching the truck but not bolting one way or the other or even quickening its pace. It was then Jonah saw the brown strap of the leather wrapped around its neck. It turned back to face forward without much concern for Jonah, it obviously felt quite safe. Pulling up along side the horse he saw the boy holding onto the strap around the horse's neck.

At first he thought it was a little girl, with soaked wavy blonde hair that reached the child's neck, but as the truck came into his view he looked up though wide, tear filled, brown eyes. "What on earth?" Jonah whispered under his breath in shock. He shook his head and took in the whole scene again as the boy looked pointedly away. What on earth would a boy, looking no more the eleven, be doing walking down the road at 6 AM, leading a horse by a strap of leather? Pity welled up inside of his for the boy, his jaw was set at a strange angle and was terribly swollen and there was a purple bruise just below his right eye. The slow drizzle was picking up, soaking his all ready worse-for-wear clothes. He stumbled among the rocks on the side of the road with boots that looked a bit too small and the side of one had been torn off and replaced with duct tape. The child looked hauntingly familiar though he couldn't place from where.

"Hey there." He called casually as if he saw children leading horses along side the road every morning.

Tentatively the boy looked up, then moved a step closer to the horse as if for protection but kept walking. "Hi." He voice held all the false bravado of someone who carried a very heavy burden but didn't wish to share it. His beaten face determined in getting wherever it was he was going. Jonah saw how loosely the clothes hung on his sickly skinny body and held back a shiver, thinking of who could have possibly done this to such a young boy.

"Where you headed?" He kept the truck at a very slow pace, hardly rolling at all as he stayed beside the horse. Both boy and horse seemed to be trying to pretend he wasn't there, staying close to one another. It hit him then, he knew where he'd seen the boy before, it was Manny's step-son.

"Cade?" he asked. Sure enough the boy looked up and there was no hiding the panic in his chestnut eyes. He quickened his pace a bit as if he could outrun the truck. Jonah didn't have to ask how he got that cut and bruise. He saw his own knuckles going white from gripping the steering wheel, his jaw set. Jonah didn't look highly upon cursing but if ever there was a man that deserved to be cursed it was the man who hit an innocent child. He'd only ever seen Cade once before, maybe a year ago he'd been to Manny's, arguing over land arrangements once more, when he'd seen Cade sitting outside on the back steps. Manny had only begrudgingly referred to him as his step-son and Jonah had never doubted that Manny wouldn't be a good father, but not ever he had thought of how much danger the child had actually been in. Had he been beaten that day, the day Jonah had been there? He cursed himself too for leaving the Cade there but knowing that there wasn't much he could have done at that moment. Why hadn't Cade's mother, Dee, stepped in to stop such violence towards her son? If any one had ever laid a hand on _his_ daughter…he trailed off, not really wanting to think of what such an action would cause him to do.

"That's a good looking horse you got there."

"He's mine!" Cade snapped, his blonde hair flew around his face as he turned to glare at Jonah. Upon hearing him speak for a second time Jonah realized that the swelling of his jaw was impairing his speech, it sounded as if his mouth was partially full as he tried to talk.

"I can see that." He nodded to the belt that was wrapped around the horse's neck. Jonah was at a bit of a loss as to what to do. He certainly couldn't just keep going, he knew very well the boy had no where to go and was most likely running away blindly. Upon seeing his current physical condition Jonah couldn't think of any better plan then that himself. '_Kicking over the bucket' _he thought briefly of the old saying of how life is like a bucket full of crabs, everyone clawing to get to the top, until someone kicks over the bucket, and that was exactly what this little boy had done, he had taken control. Jonah smiled in spite of the situation, he liked this kid. He knew of coarse he couldn't take him back to Manny, leading the lamb to slaughter, no he couldn't do that.

"What's his name?" he decided to try to keep the kid talking, at least so he could see he wasn't a bad guy.

Cade took his time replying, as if he wanted to see if he remained quite if Jonah would just leave, "Joker." He muttered finally, stumbling a bit over the uneven ground, Joker perked his ears but didn't flinch.

"Did you train him?"

"Yes sir." This time he raised his chin for the first time and Jonah saw a glimmer of pride in his eye.

Another silence passed and all that they could hear were the sounds of crunching gravel and the drizzle of the rain. "You never answered me where it was you were planning on going." Cade lowered his head again, his fair hair blocked Jonah's view of his facial expression.

"Away…"

"Ah, I can see that." There was no reason to ask why, the answer was spelled out in bruises across the boy's face.

"Won't your mother be worried?" he regretted the question as soon as it slipped off his tongue. Cade looked up at the grey sky with an expression that tore at the old paniolo's heart. He looked so lost out here, as if he'd never seen any of the landscape in his life, so desperate for a way out and yet so determined and proud at the same time. He turned his head away from the truck and looked out at the forest.

"She won't care," his voice stuttered on 'care' "she probably won't even notice." Jonah had an entirely new attitude about Dee now, he would be sure to have a talk with that woman. Cade wiped his eyes with the back of his baggy sleeve, though that was wet too. "We don't need her though!" he stated defiantly to Jonah then proudly back at Joker who nudged him in the back upon noticing the new attention. Cade cracked a smile, through his bruises and tears at his horse. Jonah's heart gave another tug. He wasn't use to feeling this much from his old heart he was sure it must be turning black but this little boy, trying to save himself and his horse all the while looking for pity and aid from no one was bringing a little color back into it.

"That's good to hear, so where are you two going to live?"

Cade's false bravado was back again, "We could live out in the forest." He stated. Jonah's graying eyebrows arched, a sundry of terrible possibilities raced through his mind. Wild pigs, wild horses, earthquakes, endless forest, tsunamis, starvation, overheating, sickness, sudden drop offs, drowning and a hundred other things awaited a small boy out in those woods. "That seems a bit dangerous don't you think?" was all he said though.

"If I die, at least I died trying." Cade raised his head with an expression that belonged on a grown man and not such a child, Jonah starred down the boy and felt Cade challenging him of their own personal status, like the colt trying to hold his own against the stallion, Jonah always liked those colts.

He let out a small laugh. "You've got some guts kid." He just smiled back and looked somewhat timidly down at his scuffed boots. "My ranch is just back the other way, I'll have Cathy fix up those bruises for you." he finally offered. Eyes wide Cade suddenly veered Joker off towards the forest. "Wait!" he called though he didn't raise his voice any so as not to frighten the all ready startled horse. "I won't take you back to Manny; I promise he'll never touch you again." He had blurted it out without thinking but he knew it was true. Cade and Joker stopped as if considering this offer though the appaloosa blocked Cade from view.

He leaned around the horse and Joker turned his head as well, the soggy pair looked almost comical, mane and hair spreading out across curious faces. "Really?" he looked weary and scrutinized Jonah as if trying to see through his offer for some lie or loophole.

Jonah just nodded and touched the brim of his hat "A paniolo always keeps a promise." Hesitantly Cade turned a rather confused Joker around so they were on the road again.

"All right, but if you're lying to me…" he trailed off threateningly. Jonah saw no humor in the boy's threat because they both knew that if he was lying and was about to take him back to his abusive step-father, there was nothing the poor boy could do about it.

A/N So I hope you enjoyed this fic, it's my first attempt at Wild Horse Island. I'm considering extending it, so review and tell me what you think!


	2. Chapter 2

OK So this was originally supposed to be a one-shot but my few readers have inspired me to continue! Also I currently do not have a beta for this fic, so if anyone would like to volunteer I would be much obliged, else wise it will go unedited by anyone save for myself.

And so without further ado I give you the pretty much entirely improved second chapter!

Cade was unsure of what to think as he sat bareback on Joker, walking steadily alongside a truck inching down the road to an unknown destination.

So far he had never known any grownup to be trustworthy, or anybody to be trustworthy really; other than Joker of course. Could he trust this man? Well, what other options did he have? Even he had to admit running out into the wild by himself wasn't the greatest or most well thought out of plans but it was still better than where he had come from. Anything was better than that.

He felt an all too familiar pressure in his eyes beginning to build and quickly squeezed them tight and wiped at his face with his sleeve. Cade knew better than to cry by now. Hesitantly he looked up out of the corner of his eye to see if the man had noticed.

His eyes were locked on the road as he made the truck crawl along beside Cade and Joker. What had the man said his name was? Jonah, that was it; Jonah the Paniolo. Cade wondered if he really was a paniolo. If he was, if he really was, than maybe Cade could trust him. Just a little.

It seemed to take forever, the truck inching along and Joker stepping slowly, head bobbing gently along side, but Cade wasn't sure he was in a hurry to get where he was going next. The only sounds were the call of far off birds, the gravel crunching beneath the tires and Joker's hooves and the gentle pitter pat of the light but constant rain.

When it seemed like Jonah really had no idea where he was going and was just leading them along he finally turned onto a long dirt road that had to be a driveway. Cade's heart skipped a beat in anxiety as he nudged Joker into a jog to make the turn and keep up with the vehicle.

He gasped.

The dirt road continued on, all the way up to a beautiful house sitting perfectly in front of fields upon fields of pastures. Horses of all colors grazed lazily in the expanse. It looked like something out of a movie or off of a postcard. Cade blinked a few times to be sure it was truly there and it wasn't just one of those dreams he had sometimes, the dreams where there was no Manny and no broken down shack of a house on a hill. Those dreams where it was just him and his parents, his real parents, and everything was alright.

A short chuckle made him turn quickly to his right, Jonah was staring straight ahead but a small smile pulled up the corner of his lips. Cade was pretty sure he was being laughed at but all he did was wrinkle his forehead in suppressed annoyance. He didn't want to upset this man now. It wasn't a big problem though; Cade was use to holding his tongue by now.

"Come on kid," Jonah addressed him as he cut off the engine and stepped out of the truck.

"What about Joker?" He demanded even before Jonah had his second boot on the ground.

Before Jonah could answer a second truck pulled into the long driveway. Man, boy and horse all turned to watch as the vehicle crunched its way towards them steadily, stopping a few feet away. A young Hawaiian man stepped out, looking clearly perplexed at the sight of the battered boy and appaloosa.

Still confused he turned to Jonah. "Pani, put this horse in the round pen," Jonah turned around and surveyed Joker for a moment. Cade leaned a little closer to his horse, feeling rather self-conscious, even though it was his horse being scrutinized "and get him a few flakes of hay while you're at it,"

The man called Pani still looked rather lost but quickly did as his boss said. He moved to Joker's head and smiled in a friendly way at Cade as he dismounted. Cade didn't return the smile.

Cade stared uncertainly at the man, the belt around Joker's neck, Joker and at Jonah's retreating form. He couldn't very well take Joker with him into the house, and Pani didn't look too bad. Hesitantly Cade lifted the belt a little in a gesture for Pani to take the makeshift halter.

"I'll take good care of him," he assured with a smile and wink but still Cade wasn't so certain. He held onto the belt a little longer than all together necessary before letting go and hurrying around Pani.

It would have been a better idea to keep on walking, to not look back at his horse and wonder if this was a good idea after all but Cade couldn't help but turn just once when Joker gave a short nicker of confusion. _I'll be back._ He promised him silently, tripping over his own boots as he tried to look over his shoulder and walk forward at the same time. If he lost Joker after all that had happened, he wasn't sure what he would do and he didn't much want to think about it.

Eyes burning again, Cade clenched his fists at his sides and bit his lip as he walked softly up the front steps to the mansion-house. These people, whoever they were and whatever their intentions were, would not see him cry.

The second he stepped inside he felt he did not belong. This house was not a place for dirty, poor rats like himself. It was beautiful and clean and yet something about it opened a deep ache in his chest. It was beautiful and clean yes, but it was also well lived in and just seemed like such a…_happy_ place. There was a collection of shoes sitting just inside the door by a small wooden bench and a small rug to wipe your feet on. It all added to a very homey atmosphere despite the grandeur of it all.

It was nothing like Cade's home, though Cade didn't really think of the place he had left as a home so much as a place where he slept, ate and spent the general amount of his time. No, _this_ was a home, not the place he had come from.

"Go down that hall to the kitchen, sit there and wait for me to get back, OK?" Jonah instructed brusquely but Cade didn't mind. Jonah had spoken to him in much the same tone he had Pani. Cade liked being addressed like an adult and not a helpless child because he certainly wasn't.

The man passed him and went out the door they had just come in, leaving Cade alone in the spacious house. He paused a moment, unsure quiet what to do. Jonah had told him to go straight to the kitchen but he hadn't told him whether he was suppose to take off his boots or not, the pile of footwear gathered by the door suggested that this was a common practice.

Uncertainly he looked down at his own tattered boots, he felt a bit reluctant to take them off and yet it was unsettling to think of trudging through such a nice house in such dirty shoes. After a moment of awkward self debate he decided to just wipe them thoroughly on the mat before continuing cautiously down the hall.

Still feeling very uncomfortable he perched precariously on the edge of a chair in the bright kitchen. He sat his hands in his lap, not wanting to get anything else dirty (he'd noticed he'd left a few smudgy boot prints in the hallway despite his attempts not to). This wasn't exactly how he pictured his grand escape from his step-father.

He had figured that by now he'd be deep in the jungle, riding bareback on Joker, running with wild horses. Of course now, sitting beside his neighbor's refrigerator, he knew that it wouldn't have happened like that. Someone would have found him, or perhaps not and he would have died out there. The thought of dying scared him very much, despite his attempts to hide it, but he just couldn't go on living there. He wouldn't spend another night under Manny's roof.

Cade tried not to think about things, about what he had done, about what would happen to him if Manny ever got his fat hands around his neck again. It was hard though, with nothing else to do but wait for Jonah to return, all he could do was think and it scared him. He easily held back the tears but now his hands were shaking, pulsing unsteadily back and forth as his fear had to resurface some way.

Angrily he twisted them together to try to keep them from giving him away as he heard the front door open again. With a deep breath he sat up as tall as he could and brushed a strand of hair out of his eyes, trying to look as grownup as possible.

Jonah wasn't alone, Cade could tell from the clomping of multiple feet down the hall and a moment later three figures rounded the corner into the kitchen. Six eyes stared at him uncertainly.

XXXXX

Well there you guys go, the second installment. I suppose I'll have to change the title now that it is no longer a one-shot…Anyway I know it was kind of boring but I want to keep all the chapters around the same size and just cut off where it works, haha. Hope you enjoyed it, I'll update as soon as I can!

~Snowlia


	3. Chapter 3

A/N Hey guys

Jonah the Paniolo had returned, with a slightly younger looking man and woman, who regarded his curiously.

"Well, hello," the woman smiled at him, slightly patronizing, her short hair swishing around her face as she leaned forward. "What's your name?"

Cade ran his tongue along the back of his teeth, worrying. "Cade."

She extended a hand promptly and Cade was taken back a bit. Who was this woman exactly, to be shaking the hand of an eleven year old? "I'm Cathy Kato, you can call me Aunt Cathy."

Aunt Cathy? This woman could hardly be his aunt. After knowing her for a grand total of ten seconds he hardly felt comfortable calling her anything short of Mrs. Kato. And even looking at her, he knew he could never see her as his family. Her hair was cut prettily around a soft and gentle face, showing nothing but concern and compassion. Her clothes were neat and refined and a bright green necklace hung loosely around her neck.

He thought of his mother, her tired eyes that never showed much of anything, annoyance at the best, and her tangled blonde hair, falling in front of bruises on sallow cheeks as she sucked a cigarette between her teeth. She would sit at the table just like that, her clothes old and worn, stained with dirt and her eyes cast downward on the leaning table, like she was reading something upon it's surface, something he couldn't see, but desperately wanted to.

No, this woman, Mrs. Kato, could in no way be his family.

"This," she turned, as if suddenly remembering the men in the room "is my husband, Ben."

Mrs. Kato skin was tan, though it was apparent she wasn't native Hawaiian, not like Jonah, and not like her husband. Bed extended his hand cordially, like Cade was a welcomed guest, and not an urchin picked up off the street. "Pleasure to meet you Cade."

"Nice to meet you too, Sir." Cade kept his eyes lowered as he shook his hand, his small, pale hand disappearing in the man's darkened paw.

"So, Cade, Jonah says you were running away." Cathy's voice wasn't condescending, it was joking either. Wearily Cade eyed her, trying to figure out what her intentions were. He didn't respond.

The adults shared a look. He always hated when they did that. It was like they were speaking to one another about him, but for the life of him he didn't know what was being said. It did little to quell his anxiety.

"You're mother is Dee, right?" Cathy tried again.

Hesitantly, Cade nodded, hardly moving his head at all and more or less just tipping his chin forward an inch. Cathy nodded.

"I'm going to call her," she stated arbitrarily, taking a few steps towards a phone mounted on the wall.

"NO." Cade was on his feet in an instant, all formalities forgotten as his heart slammed against his chest and his muscles tense. He was ready to bolt if he had to.

Cathy froze mid stride, eyes as wide as her husbands. Jonah's eyebrow arched in surprise.

His hands were shaking again, uncontrollably. "I don't want-" he stopped himself, correcting with a conviction in his voice "I WON'T go back." Breath was rushing through him at an unhealthy rate, tearing at his insides, as it seemed to claw its way down and up his trachea. "I'm not going back."

Cathy suddenly turned full towards to him, approaching far too quickly for his liking and instinctively he backed up, running into the counter and trying to bolt, but wasn't fast enough. Her arms wrapped around him, squeezing him close, in what he quickly realized was not a restraint, but a hug.

"Oh Honey, no, no you don't have to go back. We won't let them take you back. It'll be OK."

In complete shock Cade froze in her arms, and it was in his frozen state that he realized the tears, sliding down his face and blurring his vision. In horrified embarrassment he quickly tried to sweep them away, but they were coming faster. Terror fueled with distrust and uncertainty pushing forward far too many emotions.

He was well aware of the eyes of the two older men upon him and tried his best to stop crying, to suck it up like a real man. But he couldn't. His breathing was getting rougher and rougher, coming out as a choked cough, a restrained sob and while he didn't throw his arms around Mrs. Kato, he didn't push her away. As subtly as he could, he leaned forward. She smelled like soap and the kitchen, clean and friendly. His own mother smelled of nicotine, ashes and alcohol. For all that was going on, the only thing he could focus on was how unfair it was, that Dee was his mother, and not Cathy.

Cathy pulled away as suddenly as she had attacked, but hovered close. "I'm calling Dee."

Cade looked at her with betrayed horror, what had all of that just been about, if she was going to turn him in anyway?

"I told you," he said, a bit rougher than he should have spoken to her "I'm not going back!"

"You're not going back." She looked at him with just as much passion as he had. "But she needs to know where you are."

"What are you going to say to her?" Jonah asked, speaking for the first time since entering the kitchen.

Cathy's hands were small, but strong and thick as she covered Cade's ears tightly and told Jonah what she was about to say. Her words were mumbled and hushed, but out of the corner of his eyes Cade watched her pink lips form words he had heard his mother and Manny use many times, ugly words that such a pretty woman had no business speaking.

"But what do you really think, Cathy?" Cade heard Jonah ask with a smile as Cathy released his ears.

Cade watched each of them carefully, they all stood calmly and certainly, but Cade knew when people were angry. It was something he had taught himself to look for, to learn the difference between when someone was just annoyed and when they were completely furious. Sometimes when people were the most calm, was when they were the angriest.

And Cade could plainly see, that all three adults were seething. He saw it in the strain in their arms and the slanting lines their mouths made, and in the slight narrowing of their eyes, a spark of fire that shouldn't normally be there.

And for once, the anger didn't appear to be directed at Cade.

A/N: Yeah, this is even shorter than the other chapters. Luckily I do have some what of a plan for where this is going though, it won't be many more chapters, maybe two or three. Also, I apologize for any inaccuracies with the book, someone point them out if you see them. Mr. Kato's name was Ben, wasn't it? It has been over a year since I read the books…


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